Stocks to Watch: Bank of America, IBM, Pepsi

NEW YORK -- Bank of America ( BAC) is expected to issue its third-quarter earnings report before Wednesday's opening bell and analysts expect the bank to post a loss of 7 cents a share on revenue of $21.89 billion.

Excluding items, IBM earned $4.2 billion, or $3.62 a share, up from 10% from a profit of $3.28 a share in the prior year's quarter, and a penny ahead of the consensus view.

But IBM reported revenue of $24.75 billion in the September-ended quarter, down from $26.16 billion in the same period last year, and below the analysts' estimate of $25.36 billion. Currency negatively impacted IBM's revenue by nearly $1 billion in the latest period.

PepsiCo ( PEP) is expected by analysts Wednesday to post third-quarter earnings of $1.16 a share on revenue of $16.9 billion.

The earnings calendar before the bell Wednesday also includes such notables as Abbott Laboratories ( ABT), Bank of New York ( BK), BlackRock ( BLK), Halliburton ( HAL), Knight Capital Group ( KCG), Textron ( TXT), and U.S. Bancorp ( USB).

After the closing bell, reports are expected from American Express ( AXP) and eBay ( EBAY)

ASML ( ASML), the biggest supplier of equipment to semiconductor manufacturers, offered to buy Cymer ( CYMI) for about $2.55 billion in cash and stock.

ASML said its offer of $20 in cash and 1.1502 ASML shares per Cymer share represents a 61% premium to Cymer's average closing price over the past month. Cymer shares closed Tuesday at $47.83.

The deal still needs approval from regulators and Cymer shareholders.

Apollo Group ( APOL), the for-profit education company, fell short of revenue views for its latest quarter and announced a massive restructuring on Tuesday.

A declining trend for enrollment is the culprit for Apollo Group, which operates the University of Phoenix, and the company is planning to lay off as many as 800 employees and close 115 locations as part of its reorganization.